Loving not wisely but too well
Othello pleads that he should be reported as ‘one that loved not wisely, but too well’. Yet
Desdemona has as much right to the line for it perfectly describes her situation, so selflessly devoted
that she fails to acknowledge the imperfections of her husband. The character of Desdemona has
always challenged Shakespeare scholars. Is she a ‘victim’, or does she, in some measure, contribute
to her own tragedy. The play warns us against rushing to judgements about individuals and
situations.
Desdemona’s character
We learn of Desdemona before we see her. Her ‘wit’ and ‘beauty’ is praised. She is ‘fair’ and
‘gentle’, ‘a maiden never bold’.
Her father and later Othello, associate her with precious gems. Her father sarcastically calls
her ‘a jewel’, when he grudgingly accepts her marriage, reminding us that like the maiden in
legends, she is the ‘jewel’ that rewards the hero.
When Othello, before he takes his own life, describes as one who ‘threw a pearl away /
Richer than all his tribe’ he is returning to this theme
When she appears we meet a surprisingly strong-minded young woman of ‘beauty, wit and
fortune’ who has had the good sense to shun ‘The wealthy curled darlings’ of her nation.
If Roderigo is a typical example of such men, she shows good taste as well as intelligence in
selecting Othello.
Her father is no tyrant and has not forced her into marriage but trusted her.
Her ability to deceive him therefore shocks him all the more. But she is prepared for his
wrath and the ‘general mock’ of her class and culture which will result from her decision to
marry the man Roderigo describes as ‘an extravagant and wheeling stranger / Of here and
everywhere’.
The Power of Othello’s Language
Othello’s absolute certainty in himself strikes like a chord in Desdemona and her spirited
nature is ‘freed’ by the ‘witch-craft’ of words.
Vivid descriptions of his life and adventures provoke in Desdemona a desire to escape the
restrictions of her sheltered life.
Recounting how he wooed her, Othello describes her torn between her household duties
and her longing to hear him:
‘But still the house affairs would draw her thence,
Which ever as she could with haste dispatch
She’d come again, and with a greedy ear
Devour up my discourse….’
When his story is finished:
‘She gave me for my pains a world of sighs:
She swore in faith ‘twas strange, ‘twas passing strange,
‘Twas pitiful, ‘Twas wondrous pitiful;
She wished she had not heard it, yet she wished
That heaven had made her such a man’
Othello pleads that he should be reported as ‘one that loved not wisely, but too well’. Yet
Desdemona has as much right to the line for it perfectly describes her situation, so selflessly devoted
that she fails to acknowledge the imperfections of her husband. The character of Desdemona has
always challenged Shakespeare scholars. Is she a ‘victim’, or does she, in some measure, contribute
to her own tragedy. The play warns us against rushing to judgements about individuals and
situations.
Desdemona’s character
We learn of Desdemona before we see her. Her ‘wit’ and ‘beauty’ is praised. She is ‘fair’ and
‘gentle’, ‘a maiden never bold’.
Her father and later Othello, associate her with precious gems. Her father sarcastically calls
her ‘a jewel’, when he grudgingly accepts her marriage, reminding us that like the maiden in
legends, she is the ‘jewel’ that rewards the hero.
When Othello, before he takes his own life, describes as one who ‘threw a pearl away /
Richer than all his tribe’ he is returning to this theme
When she appears we meet a surprisingly strong-minded young woman of ‘beauty, wit and
fortune’ who has had the good sense to shun ‘The wealthy curled darlings’ of her nation.
If Roderigo is a typical example of such men, she shows good taste as well as intelligence in
selecting Othello.
Her father is no tyrant and has not forced her into marriage but trusted her.
Her ability to deceive him therefore shocks him all the more. But she is prepared for his
wrath and the ‘general mock’ of her class and culture which will result from her decision to
marry the man Roderigo describes as ‘an extravagant and wheeling stranger / Of here and
everywhere’.
The Power of Othello’s Language
Othello’s absolute certainty in himself strikes like a chord in Desdemona and her spirited
nature is ‘freed’ by the ‘witch-craft’ of words.
Vivid descriptions of his life and adventures provoke in Desdemona a desire to escape the
restrictions of her sheltered life.
Recounting how he wooed her, Othello describes her torn between her household duties
and her longing to hear him:
‘But still the house affairs would draw her thence,
Which ever as she could with haste dispatch
She’d come again, and with a greedy ear
Devour up my discourse….’
When his story is finished:
‘She gave me for my pains a world of sighs:
She swore in faith ‘twas strange, ‘twas passing strange,
‘Twas pitiful, ‘Twas wondrous pitiful;
She wished she had not heard it, yet she wished
That heaven had made her such a man’
